The Bridge World

MASTER SOLVERS CLUB

Scores for the November 2020 Contest

Problem A

Imps
North-South vulnerable
You, South, hold:

♠ Q J 3

♥ J 6

♦ 7 6 5 2

♣ J 6 5 4

SOUTH	WEST	NORTH	EAST
——	1 ♣	Double	Pass
1 ♦	Pass	2 ♣	Pass
2 ♦	Pass	2 ♥	Pass
?

What call do you make?

Action	Score	Panel Votes	% of Solvers
2 NT	100	10	41
2 ♠	90	9	28
3 ♣	80	5	5
3 ♠	80	1	0
3 ♥	70	3	8
3 NT	60	0	4
4 ♥	50	0	4
Pass	0	0	8
3 ♦	0	0	1
else	0	0	1

Problem B

Matchpoints
East-West vulnerable
You, South, hold:

♠ 10 6 5

♥ A Q 4

♦ A Q J 8

♣ 7 5 4

SOUTH	WEST	NORTH	EAST
1 ♦	2 ♠	Double	Pass
?

What call do you make?

Action	Score	Panel Votes	% of Solvers
3 ♥	100	10	43
2 NT	80	5	10
Pass	70	5	19
3 ♦	60	4	16
3 ♣	60	4	7
3 ♠	0	0	4
else	0	0	1

Problem C

Imps
Both sides vulnerable
You, South, hold:

♠ J

♥ A J

♦ K Q 7 6 5 2

♣ J 8 7 3

SOUTH	WEST	NORTH	EAST
——	——	1 ♣	Pass
1 ♦	1 ♠	Pass^*	Pass
?^†

^*BWS: denies three diamonds
^†BWS: double = cooperative-takeout

What call do you make?

Action	Score	Panel Votes	% of Solvers
3 ♣	100	11	31
2 ♠	90	7	28
Double	80	6	19
3 ♦	70	2	10
3 ♠	70	1	2
2 ♣	40	1	4
2 ♦	20	0	6
3 NT	10	0	0
else	0	0	0

Problem D

Imps
North-South vulnerable
You, South, hold:

♠ A Q 10 9 7 5 3

♥ A K

♦ A K Q 5

♣ —

SOUTH	WEST	NORTH	EAST
2 ♣	Pass	2 ♦	Pass
2 ♠	Pass	2 NT^*	Pass
3 ♦	Pass	3 NT	Pass
?

^*BWS: too strong for double-negative

What call do you make?

Action	Score	Panel Votes	% of Solvers
5 ♠	100	6	42
6 ♠	90	6	16
4 ♠	80	7	28
4 ♥	80	5	4
4 ♦	60	2	1
5 ♣	50	1	2
5 NT	50	1	1
6 ♦	50	0	0
4 ♣	20	0	3
4 NT	0	0	2
Pass	0	0	2
else	0	0	0

Problem E

Imps
Neither side vulnerable
You, South, hold:

♠ 10

♥ J 9 6 5

♦ A K Q J 10 7

♣ A 8

SOUTH	WEST	NORTH	EAST
1 ♦	Pass	1 ♥	2 ♣
?

What call do you make?

Action	Score	Panel Votes	% of Solvers
3 ♥	100	12	13
4 ♦	80	6	22
3 ♣	70	4	25
4 ♥	60	3	13
3 ♠	60	2	23
Double	50	1	0
4 ♣	40	0	0
2 ♥	0	0	1
3 ♦	0	0	1
4 ♠	0	0	1
else	0	0	1

Problem F

Matchpoints
Neither side vulnerable
You, South, hold:

♠ Q J 6 3

♥ A Q 5

♦ A J 4

♣ A 4 2

SOUTH	WEST	NORTH	EAST
——	——	——	1 ♥
1 NT	2 ♣	2 ♠	Pass
?

What call do you make?

Action	Score	Panel Votes	% of Solvers
3 ♠	100	8	40
3 ♣	90	7	12
3 ♥	80	6	9
2 NT	80	4	3
3 NT	60	2	3
4 ♠	50	1	23
Pass	10	0	10
else	0	0	0

Problem G

Matchpoints
East-West vulnerable
You, South, hold:

♠ K 8 5

♥ A 9 3

♦ J 10 9

♣ J 5 3 2

SOUTH	WEST	NORTH	EAST
——	——	1 ♦	2 ♣
Pass	Pass	Double	Pass
?

What call do you make?

Action	Score	Panel Votes	% of Solvers
Pass	100	16	43
2 ♦	80	6	20
2 NT	60	4	31
3 ♦	50	1	3
3 ♣	40	1	2
3 NT	10	0	0
2 ♥	0	0	1
else	0	0	0

Problem H

Matchpoints
Both sides vulnerable
You, South, hold:

♠ A 8 3 2

♥ Q 10 3

♦ 6 3 2

♣ A 8 3

SOUTH	WEST	NORTH	EAST
——	——	——	3 ♦
Pass	Pass	Double	Pass
?

What call do you make? If you pass, what is your opening lead?

Action	Score	Panel Votes	% of Solvers
3 ♠	100	9	32
4 ♠	90	8	35
Pass \| ♦ 3	80	6	3
Pass \| ♦ 2	80	1	11
Pass \| ♥ 3	70	1	10
4 ♦	60	3	2
Pass \| ♥ 10	50	0	1
Pass \| ♥ Q	50	0	0
Pass \| ♠ A	30	0	3
Pass \| ♦ 6	30	0	2
Pass \| ♠ 8	30	0	0
Pass \| ♠ 3	30	0	0
Pass \| ♠ 2	30	0	0
Pass \| ♣ A	30	0	0
Pass \| ♣ 8	30	0	0
Pass \| ♣ 3	30	0	0
else	0	0	1

MSC CONTEST

These are the scores that were assigned to the problems, as well as the number of votes each solution received from our expert panel, and the approximate percentage of solvers' answers.

See the November issue of The Bridge World to read the panel's in-depth discussion of these contest problems—see how each expert answered and learn how they came to their decisions.